In practice, one must consider
the potential for mis-classifying influence when using information-theoretic methods.
Carefully considering the definitions of
information-theoretic quantities—such as, transfer entropy
or time-delayed mutual information—further illuminates the types of influence
a particular individual has. As pointed out in introducing transfer entropy
[1]}, time-delayed mutual information reports a nonzero value
between the present of a stochastic variable \(X\)  and the future of a stochastic
variable \(Y\)  even when \(Y\)  has no direct influence on \(X\) . This implies that it
cannot be directly employed to infer the underlying mutual influence among
individuals. It also includes additional information not intrinsically coming
from \(X\) .
